Organize Leads to Increase Sales Results

 

Business Challenge

Potential and current customers get busy. They tend to gravitate to what stays in front of them. When you are an entrepreneur it is easy to become busy yourself, fail to stay organized and lose track of communicating with leads. As a professional marketer, I understand the importance of using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to stay organized with potential leads and customers. However, as an entrepreneur, I was losing track as well. I needed a tool that was more intuitive and simple to help grow our business than our previous one.

 

The Process

I utilize the Hubspot CRM to help convert leads to customers. Through the tool we are able to log new calls, send emails and keep up with reminders to follow up with leads. We are able to schedule future tasks as well to keep us in front of potential customers. Having one place to check for this information and work out f keeps us efficient.

1. Create a free Hubspot CRM account via Hubspot.com. You can watch the two-minute video to become familiar with its primary benefits. I watched the video and then followed a couple of the other online tutorials. Hubspot’s CRM staff also is available after completing the registration process for those who need additional assistance.
2. While it would be great to get potential clients to decide to invest in our services over an initial phone call, we know the majority of the time we will need to do additional follow-ups and provide information to the lead. So we established our existing sales pipeline rules so the system would execute certain reminders and tasks. For example, we are able to tell the system how soon we want to a follow-up email to be sent.
3. When a lead call comes in to our Nextiva ($37.95 a month) phone line, myself or team member captures contact information and begins to build the lead as a contact within the Hubspot CRM.
4. Besides building a contact in the system, we are able to place notes from questions to help qualify the potential client. By the end of the call we are able to label the lead as an opportunity, schedule tasks such as sending a proposal or send a follow-up email based on a template we were able to create in the CRM to forward to the lead in the future.
5. Finally, we are able to qualify the lead as being valid or not valid by selecting a variety of descriptions under the New Lead option. Based on our selections, the lead follows a pipeline we established.
6. We go into the system daily to determine what is needed. Email any leads directly from the system or make calls.

To learn the outcome of the steps above, please click here.

Have any other CRM suggestions, please comment below. They may be used for future articles.

*******************
Above Promotions is a digital marketing and public relations agency with B2C clients that promote brands in the food, fashion and family entertainment industries. We build and protect brands by creating and executing digital resources to sell products or build positive public sentiment. From a local to international market, Above Promotions Company can provide the exposure that goes above your expectations. Visithttp://www.abovepromotions.com today.

********************
Ebony T. Grimsley-Vaz is the Creative Director and Owner of Above Promotions Company. She is also the author of “Because You’re Small: Effective Marketing Strategies for Immediate Implementation” which is sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other stores and a contributor to various media outlets.

30 Days without a Facebook Fan Page Post

30-day Facebook Fan Page Test. Above Promotions Company. Tampa, FL. Digital Marketing and Public Relations.

Truly, I didn’t plan for us to test, fast or boycott posting to our Facebook fan page for 30 days when we mapped out our editorial calendar at the beginning of the year. What started out from being busy with growth in our company, to realizing it isn’t our main stream of traffic for converting leads, it became a test.

What would happen after not posting for 30 days on our Fan Page? We had already begun looking at posting once a week or two weeks to focus on more niche social media efforts, but what would happen over a period of 30 days?

Well, nothing dramatic. However, we did fall out of love with it being our number one place to share content. Now to be clear, we are a B2B service company that works with B2C companies. I wouldn’t recommend a 30-day test, fast or boycott if you are a B2C. In fact, you need Facebook way more than a business similar to ours. We have not refrained from using Facebook for our clients. It’s just not our number one source any longer.

Here are three things that lead to us deciding to re-adjust our social media strategy.

1. Scheduling posts. This feature has not worked properly in months for us as well as the clients we assist. We have been unable to schedule posts in advance. This works against our editorial calendar allowing us to focus on being social instead of stopping to post in the middle of the day. If you have followed our blog from the beginning, you know Scheduling is a big part of our recipe for social media success.
2. The ever changing fan numbers. The new followers to fan page numbers never match. It contradicts what we are seeing in new likes versus noticeable declines in new followers. (Note: We do not purchase followers or likes.) The changes do not make sense without the supporting data from Facebook to clarify why there are changes.
3. Our new projects from clients most fitting our desired demographics have come from word-of-mouth or niche media. While we obtain interest from people on social media, it has not lead to a significant number, nor in most cases, valid.

This topic isn’t new or innovative. However, it is helpful to those B2B companies teetering on whether to commit 100% of your marketing resources to a platform which may not yield the best results for new clients.

Yes. Social media is about being social. Yes. Social media is a great branding tool. However, your resource of time is limited. I encourage you to do testing with your brand to determine what is working and what is not.

What do you think? Have you refrained from posting to a social media platform for 30+ days to measure its effects?

Leave your comment below and it may be used for future articles.

*******************
Above Promotions is a digital marketing and public relations agency with B2C clients that promote brands in the food, fashion and family entertainment industries. We build and protect brands by creating and executing digital resources to sell products or build positive public sentiment. From a local to international market, Above Promotions Company can provide the exposure that goes above your expectations. Visithttp://www.abovepromotions.com today.

********************
Ebony T. Grimsley-Vaz is the Creative Director and Owner of Above Promotions Company. She is also the author of “Because You’re Small: Effective Marketing Strategies for Immediate Implementation” which is sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other stores and a contributor to various media outlets.

 

The War In Christmas Marketing

The War in Christmas Marketing. Above Promotions Company. Tampa, FL. 2015

 

It goes without saying that commercialism of the holiday season is at an all time high. One needs no further proof of this than the REI Black Friday announcement, the TJ Maxx commercial on being closed on Thanksgiving or the Starbucks holiday cup discussion. From Twitter to CNN, everyone seems to have their own opinion on how businesses should handle the holidays and advertise to them.

The topic of the “War on Christmas” seems to be a hot button or easy media content to fuel discussion among the masses during these last few weeks of the year. However, it isn’t the War on Christmas brands and consumers should pay attention to, but it is the War in Christmas Marketing. The war is in what brand will be the most memorable and what emotions will they evoke. Who will rise to the top with the most sales? For this time of year, it is all out war for the mighty dollar. For the companies who have not focused on creativity, relevance and agility, they can expect to lose once again this holiday season.

I must say the way Dunkin’ Donuts joined the conversation on seasonal holiday cups was a boss move. It was the coup de grace to the other coffee industry giants. Whether it is decorations or advertisements, this is the season for marketing departments everywhere to pull out all of the stops. As we see, they are doing just that.

The great thing about marketing in today’s world is we now have the ability to be nimble with our efforts. The chance to take creativity and join it with relevant discussions from an agile stance. Technology through the internet and mobile phones allows brands to successfully reach consumers in minutes instead of days. Social media has given brands the ability to publish content whenever they see fit. Waiting for the annual catalog to drop or a host of commercials to run is no longer the primary thing for businesses. A simple text message on sales and people are immediately taken online to shop. And in war, being quick to strike helps to gain small or large victories. These catalogs and commercials help and of course have not gone anywhere, but when you have Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Android systems, you can obtain feedback sooner and tweak messaging at a faster rate now (i.e. newsjack).

Brands like Dunkin’ Donuts have proven they are not afraid to get into the conversation. The War on Christmas was not going to be a missed opportunity for them to experience an easy win in the War in Christmas Marketing. (Truly Starbucks should have predicted this one based on the #AllDayBreakfast promotion McDonald’s ran in October which I mentioned in the “How to Hijack a Hashtag Like a Boss” post.) Besides, why not take advantage of a topic occurring in your industry about a competitor? It is very difficult to cut through all of the holiday noise and stand out. One must grab the media’s attention while they can, right? A cup of Joy fit into the conversation perfectly and a victory in the war was attained.

There are only so many ways to make a toy store stand out against a big box store. There are only so many ways to make sweaters stand out from brand to brand. This War in Christmas Marketing calls for creating great content, but taking strategic steps to stand out at the right moments. The road map to holiday victory comes with successes, just barely getting by and massive explosions (crises) which injures brands. However, with a dynamic strategy, brands can still win.

The War in Christmas Marketing is not taken lightly for the retail industry. Black Friday and Cyber Monday may help set the pace for the remaining weeks.

How do you feel the War in Christmas Marketing is going thus far? Leave your comment below and it may be used for future articles.

*******************
Above Promotions is a digital marketing and public relations agency with B2C clients that promote brands in the food, fashion and family entertainment industries. We build and protect brands by creating and executing digital resources to sell products or build positive public sentiment. From a local to international market, Above Promotions Company can provide the exposure that goes above your expectations. Visithttp://www.abovepromotions.com today.

********************
Ebony T. Grimsley-Vaz is the Creative Director and Owner of Above Promotions Company. She is also the author of “Because You’re Small: Effective Marketing Strategies for Immediate Implementation” which is sold on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other stores and a contributor to various media outlets.